This invention relates to machine tools in general and, in particular, to lathes or like machines having a chuck with adjustable gripping jaws for holding work to be operated upon. The invention is directed more specifically to a chuck jaw changer for use with such a machine tool for automatically changing the gripping jaws of the chuck as required by the varying sizes of work to be held thereby.
With the advent and dissemination of the numerical control (N/C or NC) technique, the metalworking industry has concentrated research and development efforts on the automation of all phases of machine tooling for higher production and less human labor. The change of chuck jaws is no exception. A variety of devices have been suggested, with some accepted commercially, for autmatically changing the sets of gripping jaws of chucks on lathes and other classes of machine tools. These prior art devices are subject to the objection, however, that the number of interchangeable sets of jaws is rather limited in comparison with the size of the device. A chuck jaw changer for installation on a machine tool should be as compact as possible to avoid interference with the operation of the machine tool itself. Contrary to this requirement is the current demand for a greater number of interchangeable sets of jaws. Another demand currently imposed by the metalworking industry on chuck jaw changers is the reduction of the period of time required for a change from one set of jaws to another.